If elected president, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso vowed to wage a national anti-drug campaign that is based on the rule of law and due process, similar to what he has been doing in the Philippine capital for over two years now.
Just last Tuesday, Mayor Isko presented to media seven drug suspects caught with a total 835 grams of crystal meth, locally known as shabu, with an estimated street value of P5.6 million.
Nothing exceptional here in the number of suspects arrested and the quantity of drugs seized, except that the suspects are alive to face the charges that will be filed against them.
On August 5, 2019, Mayor Isko presented 35 drug suspects arrested by authorities in Manila over a one-week period.
“This is just one good news. Another good news, out of the 35 arrested, 35 are alive,” he said then, a policy that he would consistently implement over the course of his administration.
On June 21 this year, Mayor Isko presented a Chinese national who was arrested with 38 kilos of shabu worth P258.4 million, as well as five other suspects who were arrested with 8.5 kilos of shabu worth P58-million.
On this occasion, Mayor Isko congratulated the Manila Police District for the successful operations, and said that he was proud of the men and women of the MPD for capturing the suspects “alive.”
This has been the hallmark of Moreno’s campaign against illegal drugs since he became Manila mayor in 2019, where the suspects were properly apprehended and that their human rights were respected in the process of the entire drug operations.
The suspects were even allowed to cover their faces when presented to the media and the public.
If elected, Moreno vowed to continue this anti-drug policy where the rights of the suspects will be respected and have their days before the courts. “Eliminating drugs is a priority, but it has to be done in recognition still of every individual’s human rights,” he said.
For that matter, Moreno stressed that he does not support the Philippine National Police’s Operation “Tokhang,” and would never tolerate extra-judicial killings (EJKs).
“There are no EJKs in Manila. Unless the suspects threatened the lives of our policemen, the suspects were properly apprehended and that their human rights were respected in the process of the entire drug operations,” he said.
“I believe that human rights are fundamental and that every person has the right to defend themselves before the courts,” Mayor Isko said.
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